Daffodils fund vital Life Flight missions

THANKS: Alan Bateman (left), co-organiser of the picking,with Shirley Cameron (centre) presenting $5000 to Sherry Herrick, Life Flight partnerships and development manager.

Life Flight Trust was presented with a $5000 cheque on Friday from funds raised by Carrington Estate's daffodil pickings.

More than 8000 daffodils were picked with a gold coin donation entry last Sunday at the Carrington Estate in Carterton on a day that estate owner Shirley Cameron said "was just glorious".

"There were so many people who came through that day," she said. "We never counted the people but we did count that 8000 daffodils were picked. There wasn't any left in the field that night.

"And we couldn't have done it without the volunteers. We had six all up, most from Carterton.

"There were also two from Auckland, Richard and Margaret Fowler, and he had been rescued by the helicopter when he broke his ankle in the mountains."

Mrs Cameron said she was happy to have helped support Life Flight as their services were important to the Wairarapa community.

"The helicopter goes right over the top of our house and people from Wairarapa hear it frequently," she said.

"So it's good to support it because there's a lot of flights that come into the Wairarapa so that people don't have to travel over the hill."

Life Flight's partnerships and development manager Sherry Herrick received the cheque on behalf of the trust and said "the generous support of places just like Carrington House is just invaluable".

"This $5000 cheque today is in effect going to pay for two missions to the Wairarapa," she said. "An average mission costs $2500 each time we fly, so this is just absolutely brilliant support."

Mrs Herrick said she hoped to encourage people to learn more about supporting Life Flight "so that we can support you".

"Last year alone we flew 155 people in Wairarapa."

To find out more information on supporting Life Flight visit www.lifeflight.org.nz.